Hi guys, I have only asked one question here before* but lurk a lot so please excuse me if my question is stupid.

I'm just beginning climbing but work in a job that involves VERY unusual hours and a lot of travelling. As such it makes committing to courses or even regular partners difficult, to say the least. I indoor climb now, but hope to sign up for an outdoor course early next year, as work schedule allows.

After acquiring a basic skill-set, I would like to be able to climb by myself. I've watched some excellent videos by Aron Stock on solo lead climbing but clearly it would take some time to get to that level of proficiency. Instead I wanted to know if it is likely I'll be able to acquire the skills reasonably early in my climbing "career" to be able to solo top rope, I imagined a scenario where I began at the top of the climb, rappelled down and climbed back up, maybe even doing laps.

Hopefully that makes sense. The reason I ask is that I see little point in pursuing courses etc only to find out that for the first xx years I will probably need to always climb with a parter(s). My work schedule will make that virtually impossible on any long-term basis.

Thanks, Pete

*My other question I asked almost a year ago related to using climbing gear as a safety device to work on my roof. It was very kindly answered by members here. So ... I had a rope and harness (and a fixed roof), now what to do with it? One thing led to another and next thing I know I'm on a flight to Nepal to climb a 6500m peak, mumbling the mantra "you ID-I-OT!" the whole way there; after all, 2 story house, 6500 m peak, same thing right? Well surprisingly enough I made the summit and I'm now looking to go back in 2013, hopefully to climb a slightly more technical 7000m peak, still on fixed ropes, but want to acquire better skills. A simple side-note just to show that even the most seemingly idiotic noob question can lead to unexpected paths. Acorns, Oak Trees, and all that stuff.